Reasons for the Seasons
Declan De Paor, Old Dominion University; Steve Whitmeyer, James Madison University
Reasons for the seasons (RFTS for short) is an interactive learning resource that leverages the popular Google Earth virtual globe. It is designed to help students and members of the public visualize and understand ...

Grand Tour of the Terrestrial Planets
Declan De Paor, Old Dominion University
In the age of publicly funded space exploration involving several national space agencies, knowing about the highest mountain in the solar system is as basic to geospatial literacy as knowing about the highest ...

Virtual Field Trip to Mt. Vesuvius
Katherine Kelley, University of Rhode Island
This is a virtual field trip to Italy's Mt. Vesuvius, which explores the 79AD eruption of the volcano. Students explore the excavated cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as the different types of ...

Geologic Mapping on Mars
J. Brian Balta, Texas A & M University
This activity consists of several mapping components exploring the JMARS software and completing detailed geologic maps and cross sections on Mars.

Olympus Mons and Hawaii
Carol Ormand Ph.D., Carleton College
Students estimate the volume of Olympus Mons and the volume of lava that has erupted from the Hawaiian hotspot and compare them.

The Earth's Heat Budget
Roy Plotnick, University of Illinois at Chicago
Hands-on laboratory activity that allows students to investigate the effects of distance and angle on the input of solar radiation at the Earth's surface; the role played by albedo; and the heat capacity of ...

Introduction to Planetary Mapping
Alexandra Davatzes, Temple University
This is an introduction to photogeologic/geomorphologic mapping of a planetary surface. The goal of this project is to help students learn the components of a geologic map and try to use all of their undergraduate ...

Introduction to JMARS
Alexandra Davatzes, Temple University
This is an introduction to using JMARS. It is a bit of a "cookbook" for getting students comfortable with the different things you can do in JMARS, such as adding different visual datasets with ...

Discovering New Worlds
Dora Kastel, New Visions for Public Schools
This resource is a set of student and teacher materials for a new NGSS-driven Earth & Space Science (ESS) unit (4-6 weeks of instruction). The anchor phenomenon students are exploring through modeling and data ...

Plate Tectonics and the Scientific Process
Suki Smaglik, Laramie County Community College
Average inquiry level: Guided inquiry This is a series of scaffolded modules to guide students in understanding Plate Tectonic Theory, from its history to modern applications, and is designed for the asynchronous ...

Semester Long Martian Research Project
Erin Kraal, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
These project materials scaffold students through a semester-long, original research project. This specific project was developed using the online planetary science database JMARS. Weekly assignments guide ...

Mars Landing Site Analysis Lab
Brian Hynek, University of Colorado at Boulder
Brian Hynek, University of Colorado Summary Students use recent data acquired from Mars orbiters to assess the safety and scientific value of various proposed landing sites for a future Mars lander. Context Type ...

Seasons
David Steer, University of Akron Main Campus; , University of Akron Main Campus
While working in groups to facilitate peer tutoring, students manipulate a hands-on, physical model to better comprehend the Earth's position in space, the Earth's rotation axis and seasons. -

Creating the Solar System – step by step
Karen Curtin
The goal of this lesson is to encourage the clarification and understanding of the processes involved in the creation of our solar system. The lesson is part of a larger unit of astronomy which addresses the MA ...

Wheel of... Geology!
Rebecca Teed, Wright State University-Main Campus
This quiz game is intended to help students review for an upcoming exam. Topics of questions are randomly determined by spinning a wheel. Teams answer questions using electronic CPS handhelds. -

Impact Craters and Water on Mars
Eric Grosfils, Pomona College (egrosfils@pomona.edu)
Students explore for water on Mars using impact crater morphology. During this lab, students: learn to use the equation writing and graphing capabilities in Microsoft Excel, thendevelop and apply an impact crater depth-diameter relationship in an effort to constrain the depth to a possible water-rich layer beneath one or more portions of the surface of Mars!

Did it Rain on Mars? Analysis of Valley Networks on Mars in an Intro Geo Course
Barb Tewksbury, Hamilton College
Students investigate the question of whether it might have rained on Mars by doing an activity based on an article by Hynek and Phillips (2003). Students do a simple drainage basin analysis based on Hynek and ...

Using an Observatory Project to Develop Professional Communication in Astronomy
Dr. Robert Hynes, Assistant Professor, Physics & Astronomy, Louisiana State University
This is a comprehensive project using the Highland Road Park Observatory camera. This project encompasses the formal portions for both written and spoken communication, and carries 55% of the course credit.

Visualizing Sun Position of the Seasons
Chris Sinton, Ithaca College
The goal of the exercise is to help students visualize and better understand how the sun changes apparent position over the course of the seasons.

Rock Types on Other Planets Lecture Tutorial
Karen Kortz, Community College of Rhode Island; Jessica Smay, San Jose City College
The design of this short Lecture Tutorial worksheet allows students to make predictions of what rock types they would expect to find on other planets. After a brief lecture, students work in groups to answer the questions to help them understand the conditions of formation for the three rock types.